


Don't Crack Your Knuckles

by Akinasky



Series: SterekBingo 2019 [9]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cracking Your Knuckles Gives You Arthritis, Derek is a Good Boyfriend, I was surprised myself, M/M, Research, Sterek Bingo, Sterek Bingo 2019, Stiles Loves His Research, That's an Urban Legend Folks, Urban Legends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 19:51:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18785044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akinasky/pseuds/Akinasky
Summary: Stiles is challenged and like a good Stilinski, he would complete the challenge.





	Don't Crack Your Knuckles

**Author's Note:**

> Sterek Bingo Prompt: Urban Legends

Research night had quickly become a weekly thing in the Stilinski house. After Dad found out about the supernatural elements in town, he insisted that the pack meetings to deal with those things be discussed with him. It also was a great way for him to keep an eye on his son’s burgeoning relationship with Derek.

Stiles sat down with his laptop in front of him at the table while Derek and his dad cooked a meal together at the stove and the counter top, cracking his knuckles, making Dad and Derek wince.

“Don’t crack your knuckles, do you want to have arthritis by the time you’re thirty?”

Stiles scoffed, “That’s just an Urban Legend and there is nothing to back it up.”

Dad paused and gave him a look, “Prove it.”

Stiles scoffed, “Okay, I will.” He sadly couldn’t get to proving it right then and there so he went back to looking up the newest issue in town which was apparently something called a Chupacabra which Stiles was pretty sure was also a rumor but they couldn’t afford to say that was the only possibility. After all, he was researching the Chupacabra for the safety of his werewolf pack which included a Banshee, werewolves and so on.

Pack help trumps proving Dad wrong, it seemed.

Later that evening though, Derek was sitting with him in bed while Stiles looked up some stats and studies about it, “So that’s a real thing? Like popping your knuckles is bad for you?”

“Well a lot of people were made to think that it was a problem and that cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis but as you can see there is a lot of studies done with arthritis patients that does not match up with that at all.”

“I don’t pop my knuckles and I don’t really think that I’ve ever seen a werewolf do it, I don’t understand why you are doing it.”

“Because it gives me some relief, I started doing it a long time ago and now if I don’t pop them sometimes the pressure I feel in my knuckles and joints feel painful.”

“What causes the pop?”

“Bubbles bursting in the synovial fluid which helps to lubricate the joints.”

“But not all humans do it. If its something inherently good for you, why doesn’t everyone do it?”

“I didn’t say it was inherently good for you, I just told you what the sound was.”

“But if this fluid gets bubbles in it, that’s bad right?”

“Man, I don’t know, I just want to prove that my dad is wrong. How about when I finish shoving his face in a humble pie, then I will find you all the information about it and we can go over it during our next dinner date.”

“You want to research knuckle cracking and share everything on one of our dates?”

“Yes,” Stiles said even though he wanted to make it into the form of a question. Stiles watched Derek, thinking maybe he’d made some sort of dating faux pas and Derek was going to get angry or something.

Derek smiled making Stiles deflate in relief, “Sounds like a unique date and perfect for us.”

“Great, would you like a bullet point format or a complete essay on the subject?”

“Either,” Derek said with a wink, “One more question?”

Stiles groaned, “What is it my CuriousWolf?”

“Is it really humble pie if you rub his face in it?”

“It is when I do it,” Stiles snarked.

Derek laughed, pressing a kiss to Stiles’s neck, distracting Stiles from his search. He tilted his neck a little to give Derek better access and made a deal with himself; sex with his hot-as-the-sun boyfriend then prove Dad wrong. And then rub his face in it very nicely otherwise Dad might feel more inclined to shoot said boyfriend for sexing with his barely old enough son.

“Priorities.” Stiles muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Derek asked, pulling away.

“Nothing, just go back to what you were doing.”

“On one condition,” Derek said, pressing one finger to the pulse at Stiles’s throat, making him swallow in need.

“Anything.”

“Don’t crack your knuckles while we are having sex, that sound makes me want to vomit and I would hate to ruin the mood.”

Stiles nodded, “Deal.”

 

“And so, despite the fact that sometimes cracking your knuckles can sometimes cause inflammation and discomfort, there has been no proof that knuckle-crackers are any more likely to get arthritis.”

“Fine, whatever, just… It sounds awful when you do it,” Dad responded.

“I have a paper about it if you would like to peruse it,” Stiles offered as Derek rolled his eyes from the kitchen counter.

“No, I mostly just want you to stop talking about it.”

Stiles threw his hands up in annoyance, “Fine. Just you wait and see if I write a paper for you next time you demand I prove something!”

“Don’t make threats you have no intention of keeping,” Dad responded.

“So,” Derek interrupted, “How did the knuckle cracking leads to arthritis thing even get started?”

“Like most things that become Urban Legends, there was a grain of truth, I imagine that experiencing pain and inflammation in the knuckles led them to believe it and then it was basically adopted as a way for parents to scare their children into not doing it.”

“Did you look that up?” Dad asked.

Stiles shrugged and shook his head, “Mostly just a theory.”

Dad and Derek gave him a weirdly identical look and said in unison, “Prove it.”

“I hate you both,” Stiles grumbled, cracking his knuckles just to bother them before he started researching. He would show them both.

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments, please if you feel you need to correct something at least add something you liked about the fic too.


End file.
